I got up around 8 and soon left to get breakfast but stopped in a local hindu temple where I managed to step bare footed in some bird poo. Next I went to have breakfast of fried rice, then went to the tourist information place for the 9am tour. The tour had a lot more people than yesterday and we started by looking at things in the information centre itself including a short video (normally you have to pay 5 RM entry). Then we went to a few nearby places including the buildings around the cricket field such as the theatre, church and the social club which you normally need to be a member to go into. The Malaysian woman and her 2 Australian nieces from yesterday were there but most of todays group was German although 4 of them got bored early on and left.
After that I decided to go to the Batu caves but first I went back to see the rest of the information centre and then a music museum and the textile museum as they were all free. I went to the train station after and couldn't find the stop I wanted on the ticket machine so I asked the staff and he told me where the KTM atation was I needed. There were a few other tourists going there including a couple from the morning tour getting the train and it came fairly soon. On the train I was on my phone for a bit and as we left one station I had a strange feeling and checked the station against the map on the train and we were going to the wrong place so I got off at the next stop which was luckily the last place I could interchange so I just waited on the platform for the next train. At Batu caves there were quite a few stalls trying to sell stuff and then there were a couple of temples to visit and a big statue. I went to the cave and it was 5 RM entry which was strange as I'd looked it up online and it was supposed to be free. I checked the map and the cave was further along so I went there and they had an even bigger gold statue at the entrance. I climbed up the steps (only a few hundred) and there was a sign to the dark cave, so I went and had a look and they do guided tours into the cave to see creatures like the rare trapdoor spider. I've done cave tours before and just wasn't that up for it on my own so I gave it a miss and went on to the Batu cave which was one big cave and then afterwards a hollow which had a temple and where the rock was pretty high. It was quite impressive but not that amazing and I checked the map after and there was another attraction nearby which didn't say what it was so I intriguingly went to have a look. It turned out to be a shop with a load of people in who had got off of tour buses and the shop had some above normal prices so I left and went back to the station. I bought a ticket to a stop called Kuala Lumpur but on the way I considered going some where further but when I googled the train prices it cost more for every stop so my ticket wouldn't work and I had to go to the KL stop. So I got off and had trouble finding the right exit but after I went to the national museum which was open until 6pm but had an entry fee and looked a bit boring. I gave it a miss and went to the botanical gardens area where they had a planetarium and a police museum both of which were closed on Mondays. I carried on to the Islamic art museum which was 15 ringitt entry so moved on and after going round a boring circular road I came to the bird park which was pretty expensive so I went to the free orchid garden which was nice and then the hibiscus garden where I learnt that a hibiscus is the national plant. Apparently one group of people had voted for one type and another group had voted for another type and the government had chosen a 3rd type that nobody really wanted to keep people from fighting (Democracy in action). I carried on to a deer park which only had 2 deer I could see and only the entrance was open so I couldn't walk through and had to go back out the same way to the lake which had some small fountains. I carried on walking through the park and then had to cross a busy road to get to the national monument which had a small park with art pieces in. The national monument is ok, I feel I may have been there 10 years ago, it's statues of soldiers with water around it. I left there and walked to the national mosque which has a very modern design but there is no place to take a good photo. It was getting late so I headed back to the hostel and had a shower so that I could get all of my dirty clothes together and go to the laundrette. There were quite a few people there and it was self service and about 18 ringitts including drying (not so cheap). I left to get some food while my clothes were washing and also used a water machine to fill up my bottle as its so much cheaper than buying a bottle. I took my clean clothes back to the hostel and packed them away as best as I could and my other things as well since I leave the next day. By now it was late so I went to bed soon after.
0 Comments
I had a bit of a lie in and got up around 8am but headed out soon after and I wandered my way to a bridge where a sign said Kuala Lumpur was founded here as this was where 2 rivers met and Kuala means confluence and Lumpur means muddy so it was a muddy place where 2 rivers converged.
I carried on and got to the information place where I wanted to go to find out when the free walking tours are. They were closed until 9am so I wandered around a bit and there was a lot of activity with tents set up and lots of people, apparently that's quite normal for a weekend but it looked more like what you get at summer fetes or such. I tried out some noodles and then went back to get the details of the tours and there was one that afternoon at 4.30pm in a district called Kampong Baru. I went back to the hostel and asked if I could move to the bottom bunk and they said I would have to come back after 11 so I left and went to the IT shopping mall called Low Yat. It was about 30 minutes walk and I went past some stadiums that I think were built for the commonwealth games. Then I turned on a main road and there was a mosque and the opening hours said it was ok now for visitors however people there said there was a function on. I insisted on the time shown and someone happily showed me round and took a photo of me in the prayer hall. The mall was not far away and I looked at the first stall and moved on sticking to the idea of checking lots of prices before buying and googling the product first but I came unstuck and there was a small camera which looked like a go pro for 300 ringitt (£60), it seemed ok so I bought it and then got a tripod/selfie stick to go with it. I went up another floor and bought a power bank to replace my broken one. I carried on up levels and pretty much bought everything on my list including a phone case and a bluetooth speaker (party times are here). I went back down and there was a lot going on as they had a special promotion where if you spend more than 250 RM at one shop then you get a prize. I had spent that so I went to the desk and they said I needed the shop to stamp my form which they did when I went back there. I got back to the desk and they had closed for 15 minutes so I got some food. Then when I came back there was a long queue but I got my form stamped and sent to an area where they had a theme park like skill game. I had to bounce a ping pong ball into a basket. I was a bit nervous and missed the first shot but I got another go and got one the 2nd try, but then I got the impression you keep going until you get one, everyone wins and all that. Seems I had won a 4 way usb charger which could be useful. I went back to the hostel and the guy there did let me move to the lower bunk so I moved all of my stuff down and started charging some things. I tried out some of the gadgets and booked another night at this hostel using Agosto. Around 3.30pm I left and wandered through the central market and the festival area which was a morning thing as it had very few people left. Then I went to catch the train to the guided walk. The shortest route was via a station called Dang wangi, so I took the train there and was there about 5 past 4, but then I couldn't get a connecting train because I would have to leave and then enter a different station. I thought I was ahead of time so decided to go back and take a different route. I made the platform and just missed a train. Then when I made it back to where I was before the interchange was quite long and the train took a few minutes to come. Now I was almost definitely late unless the train went fast which it did but then at the interchange for the monorail I just missed that train and the next was 5 minutes away. Eventually I got to the start of the tour about 15 minutes late and they hadn't gone too far so I joined them as we looked at an old wooden house built by a Chinese teacher called Master Mee. The tour guide was good but there wasn't that much too see in the neighbourhood. We did have him try on and demonstrate some Malaysian clothes and he also bought some Durian fruit for us to try. There isn't much actual fruit as the stones are so big and as it was out of season it was expensive, I'd say its not a great fruit but it was good to try. The tour ended at a Sikh temple and I decided to take the free bus, so I found a stop and waited. An Australian couple on the tour came past and said they were walking back. I waited some more and the bus came, drive past the stop and stopped at the corner and then drove off. So I gave up on the bus and walked back instead. I had dinner at a locals place and they had Chelsea beating Man City showing, then I went back to the hostel and tried out their computer, but it was rubbish and I got very little done. I went to the room as it was around 11pm and there were 2 German girls chatting so I listened to my music and read my book until about 12.20 when the other guy in the room got up and switched the light off and said something to them. I got up at 6.30, had a shower and packed all my things away and left to see as much as I could. I first headed south on roads to a tea plantation, but on the way I realised I had forgotten my camera which was annoying so I would have to use my phone. It was raining again but a bit heavier than yesterday and again I had my umbrella. I got to the tea place around 8am and it was closed with a few people waiting there for it to open, but I was only interested in the views and getting some photos and it did look nice so I did all that and wandered amongst a few bushes which they let you do. Then I carried on to the next tea shop also run by the same Bhatat family and was listening to music on the way.
This time the tea shop was open but they had tourist prices and I had some snacks I'd bought the day before anyway so I took a few more pictures as the landscape was a bit different and carried on walking. My phone was down to about 60% battery so I decided to charge it with my power pack only I found that it didn't have much charge on it so now I didn't have much battery for the day and I needed the phone for a map and for a camera so I switched it off and carried on walking which meant my step count would be low and also that I couldn't check the map so easily. I came to a place where I thought I should so I switched on my phone but the turning was quite a bit further along and there was a fast food place on the map at the turning. So I carried on along the winding road I had been walking on and came to a place where a sign said there was a bee farm 650 metres away. So I ummed and ahhed and decided to go visit the bee farm even though it would be an extra 1.3km. I went there and there was a few things I took pictures of but the bee farm was shut as was the nearby orchid farm, there were a few people waiting for the bee farm to maybe open up, but I wasn't that fussed. I got back to the main road and carried on and after 10 minutes and I was expecting to be where I should turn so I switched my phone on which was down to 70% battery and the map said the path was back where I'd been, past the bee farm which was now 1.3km away so I had to walk back there and would walk an extra 2.6km because I'd gone the wrong way. I made it back to the bee farm and it was still shut but some different people were waiting there now (the orchid farm was also shut). Carried on up the road and made it to where the trail started which was signposted. Soon after I came to a small dam and then the path went uphill into a more forested area. This continued for a while with a stream sometimes nearby which because it was raining was going pretty fast. Then I came to a waterfall but I had to walk down a path to get there which was fine and it was a lot better than the one I saw yesterday. The map did have a Robinson's waterfall listed but I wasn't sure I was there so I turned on my phone to check and it didn't find my location so I had to just keep walking. Further along and I came to another waterfall and this time the map did show that it was the one on the map, to be honest I thought the 2 waterfalls were similar so I don't know why the other one was not marked, maybe it just didn't have a name. While I was taking photos of the waterfall I heard a dog barking at me and I looked up and felt a bit vulnerable just because I wasn't on solid ground so I found a stick and climbed up holding it even though the dog was nowhere to be seen. I made it back to the main path and there was nothing around do I threw away the stick and went round the next bend and saw a small man with a couple of dogs. Then another dog came up behind me but I heard it and turned so that it backed away growling. Another dog the biggest of them all, an Alsatian turned up but seemed more friendly, still as I'd seen before dogs do attack in packs. The man was not moving so I walked on a bit and round a corner and checked the map and I had missed the turning I wanted to climb the hill. So I turned back and the dogs were there and I thought I saw the path so I started walking that way but the ground was steep and slippery and the dogs were near and maybe sensing my weakness one bit me on the back off my ankle only I pulled it away and shouted which scared the dog off and the bite didn't penetrate. The man didn't seem to concerned but did walk off with his dogs and I carried on climbing the path which looked like a place where water comes down and was really hard to climb so I checked the map and I was off course. I went back down to the path and back to near the waterfall and there was the path I wanted but had missed with all of the distractions. This path was much nicer and I carried on all the way to the top of the mountain where I stuck to my plan of taking a long route to the next town along from where I was staying rather than go back to Tanah Rata. Remembering that the tours took you to find thr Rafflesia flower, I started looking out for it or anything red which might be it as I walked along. The trail carried on with further intersections and I checked the map sparingly to save battery until I found myself on the wrong path. Annoyingly the map would have me walk back a fair distance to then go in almost the same direction so I decided to go for a short cut as it didn't look far on the map, maybe 40 metres. I started on this and it looked like a disused path which was ok for a while until I think I took a wrong turn and found less and less of a path. I stuck to directions which looked most possible to walk in which was ok except when I checked the map I wasn't going to the other path, but was heading parallel to it in the right direction. So I tried to change direction but it was much harder and some spiky plants kept attacking me. I found my way to a stream which was heading in the right direction and a bit easier to walk along and eventually I made it to the path (trail 3). I checked the map and I had walked 200 metres through the jungle and it had taken ages but I actually had had a little rest by walking so slowly so I could step up the pace. Jungle by the way is not as bad a terrain as mangrove swamp. Still no sign of the Rafflesia and it was taking a long time to get to where I was going because the path kept going up a hill and then down again. I got to the town after 2.30 and went to the nearby temple which was Buddhist and had a lot of building work nearby. They had a market stall there selling vegetables so I bought a bag of tomatoes and cucumbers for 5RM. I headed back to my hostel along path 4 with the small waterfall and got back before 3.30 which didn't give me long for my 4pm bus so I got a Nasi goreng to takeaway. There was a guy from Cardiff there so we talked before getting on the bus. He sat where there was no space to sit next to so I went to the back and the bus actually started leaving a bit before 4 until a woman started shouting at the driver and then some more people turned up. Still the bus was half empty and comfortable so I read my book as my phone power was still a problem. We got to Kuala Lumpur around 8.30 and had driven all the way to a bus station in the south. Thankfully they have trains there so it wasn't much problem finding the way and the Welsh guy had a hostel near mine so came along. I pointed him in the direction of his hostel and went to mine which wasn't quite where the map said it was but google maps had it. Checked in and I had the top bunk with a stupid ladder up which was hard to use and there also wasn't a shelf and the bed below me was empty. I went out for food and found myself in a market street in Chinatown. All of the food was much more expensive than Penang, but I got a couple of things and found an expensive laundrette. I went back to the hostel and they had a computer but it was locked so I asked them to unlock it but they charge 3 ringitts per hour and as it was gone 11 I decided to give it a miss and went to bed soon after. Got up 6.30 after not sleeping too well, the bed was comfortable but the a/c was too cold and blew onto me as I slept. At least my back felt better. Left the room to have a shower and realised I'd taken my driving licence instead of the keycard so I was locked out of the room. Had the shower anyway and found that my green trousers had lost one of the tying strings as I'd somehow pulled it through. Tried to fix it but I just moved the elastic around. Went downstairs and woke the man on reception who opened the door for me and I packed up all of my things then went to check out and get my deposit. I saw they had a computer that I probably could have used instead of walking around in the rain and paying for the internet. Then I had a feeling that I was still missing something and had a hunch it was my jumper that I'd worn because of the cold. Checked my suitcase and the jumper wasn't there so I checked the room as my room mate was up now and it wasn't there but I found it in the toilet and felt better that I had everything. Left and went to the bus station and got a big more comfortable coach for the journey. Chatted to an Austrian girl but the bus filled ip and someone sat between us. We were both going to the same hostel in the Cameron highlands. The bus drove for a while and stopped for toilet break where you had to pay and the food did not look great. When I got back on the bus there was lots of people I didn't recognise so I thought it was the wrong bus, but lots of people had got off and new people got on.
We came to Cameron highlands where there was terracing and lots of plastic greenhouses for the strawberries I presume and where there were winding roads and lots of traffic and we went past some of the tourist attractions such as the Lavender gardens and Bee farm. Some backpackers got on a town before and we arrived at Tanah Rata around 12.45 and the hostel was a short walk away. I checked in and got my stuff sorted so I went for lunch. Eva (the Austrian) was looking at tours to do tomorrow and was only just ready for lunch, she asked if I was really goig to trek in the rain, I said yes and as I had my umbrella I headed out. The rain was only mild as I left town and went through a garden before finding the trail number 10. It was generally an uphill path with plsnts either side snd sometimes trees. I made it to the top and the views were ok despite the rain. Then I carried on and the path went into more forrest which was nice with tree roots all over it. I enjoyed the walk along the path which went for a while before I emerged to a new build flats and resort kind of area. After that I was close to Brinchang town so I went there but it really started raining and it was getting a bit late so despite sunset being at 7, I went to one temple and then started heading back. Stopped at a tiny church which was set up for a wedding, probably tomorrow and I walked past the golf course. I found the start of anoyher trail (number 4) and as it was a tiled wide path it was fine even in the rain. I carried on and it was ok but not as nice as the earlier woodland trail. There was a stream next to the trail which was running pretty fast with all the rain water. I came to the place where the waterfall was and took a path to the stream which came to a broken bridge so I climbed across it and got some good pictures of the not very impressive waterfall on the other side. After that I continued on this side of the stream and came to the bridge I was supposed to cross which was a wooden rope bridge, certainly sturdier but not brilliant. I walked on to a hindu temple which was empty and then headed back into town where I walked through and looked at the shops and saw a couple of tour places where the tour will take you to see the raflesia flower (the worlds largest). I went back to the hostel and met Eva who said she had had a lazy relaxing afternoon but she had met some people who did a trek and looked much wetter than I did, must be the umbrella I said, thinking that maybe they used ponchos which just means you get wet from all of your sweat not escaping. I bought my bus ticket to KL at the hostel and the last bus was at 4pm not 6pm as I'd thought so I had less time the next day. I was hungry so went back to the place I had had lunch as it was next door and this time I had a set meal which meant I got quite a few dishes and it was pretty good and also not spicy as I wanted. I found an internet cafe and used the computer which was pretty rubbish unfortunately so one hour was enough and I went back and finished my book on mindlefullness which was written by a psychologist (Ellen Langer). It actually seems I'm a fairly mindful person based on this book, but I know there is another type of mindlefullness based on living in the now which I'm not so good at. I went to sleep having planned a long trek the next day. I got up at 7am and went out soon after to see the street art. Got a bit lost at first but went round the main places with nobody else there. Carried on round and it was a bit of a walk to all of the places on the map. A lot of the art is a metal structure which loks kind of boring to me but it does carry some information on Penang. The other art was more Banksy like with some of small children interacting with real 3d objects like a bike. I also went to some temples but some were still closed. Managed to find a post office near the main mosque and they gave me a package so I didn't need the envelope. Still it was cheap so I might get some to make the postcards go quicker. I got back to the hostel at 9.15, showered, packed and headed to the Red inn but they couldn't check me in yet so I left my bag and looked for a bus ticket to Cameron highlands. The hostel said 50 Rm, the next place 45 and I knew it could be 40 so unlike Lars I was definitely shopping around. I went to the tourist information place where the walking tour would leave from but they didn't sell bus tickets and told me to go to the bus place near the ferry which I did and there was nothing that looked like selling tickets so I went back and joined the tour.
There were a lot of people which is the first thing the guide said but he carried on and covered a fair bit of history of Penang and we didn't walk that far. Afterwards I went to the Peranakan museum which has very high ratings on tripadvisor. I wasn't happy with the price but decided to see the place which was a mansion of a Chinese man which had been bought by a cross Chinese Malaysian called a Baba and the museum was about those kinds of people, their customs but also it was a big house filled with things he'd collected. I waited 5 minutes for the guided tour and it was just me so I got shown around by quite a touchy man (in that he touched me a lot but not in a Jimmy Saville way). The tour was good although his pronunciation wasn't great and I don't think it was worth the entry I paid but I did see tickets for maybe half the price if you entered in a different place. After that I wanted to go to the main temple but first I needed lunch so went to an Indian place I had seen yesterday and it was ok. The drink was a syrup and was surprisingly good although it did come out warm, the ice cooled it down. I went back to the hostel to try to check in but it seemed a bit if a faff so I went to the bus station and bought my ticket to Cameron highlands for 8am the next day. Then I waited for the bus I'd taken yesterday to see the temple this time and the buses took ages and I checked the information map I had and it seemed I could have taken another 2 buses that had come and gone, but finally my bus turned up. The temple (Kek Lok Si) was the one I had been to 10 years ago, which is big and goes up the side of a hill a bit. They had a new large statue there (Built in 2002 so it was there last time as well) but I had to get a lift up. after that it was a long winding walk back down and I had to go all the way around to the front to get into the temple again, they don't cater well for people not spending the money on the funicular. Anyway then I tried to get to the pagoda but the gate was locked so I had to go back in and around the temple so that they could take an entry fee off me, but the pagoda was good with nice views. I went back down and it was starting to rain and I made my way back to the bus stop where other tourists were waiting. So we stood under shelter and a bus 401 came, but it was going to end at Penang hill and wouldn't let us on even though it would go back to town straight after. There were 2 other buses that were also not going our way and eventually the bus came. It got stuck in traffic near the city so I got out a stop early only to see the bus race of after that and go all through the city so I probably could have stayed on to get closer to the place with the jazz. I walked there and arrived about 15 minutes late and they had a really good band on, I found a seat at the back and they did a song and a half and then were finished. the next person was a jazz guitarist which meant he just played the guitar and I wasn't impressed but I wanted to see if the next person was good as it might be 10 minutes wait. Unfortunately it was 20 minutes and then a girl with an acoustic guitar went on. she was ok but very quiet so I left and went to get checked into my hostel. I had the top bunk in a 2 bed room, which is unusual. There was lots of storage space though so Red inn court is an ok place. I kept thinking that maybe if I'd checked in earlier I might have got the bottom bunk. I went out to get some food, but we were too far from the place I'd got prawn cakes so I went to some other places and was a bit disappointed. After that I went on the internet in a cafe and went back to the hotel where I discovered they had a computer I could use for free. It was late so I went to bed. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |